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Creative Business Marks One-Year Anniversary With Williamstown Storefront
By Rebecca Dravis, iBerkshires Staff
11:08AM / Wednesday, February 11, 2015
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Sarah Holland reads the card that accompanied a bouquet of flowers delivered to celebrate the new Williamstown storefront of The Progressive Palette.

Sisters Sarah Holland and Kira Guidon stand in front of the wall in their new Williamstown storefront that features the paintings they have helped the region paint over their first year in business as The Progressive Palette. Left, the sign on the window of 71 Spring St. in Williamstown hints at what is to come.

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — One year ago, two North County artists had an idea to spread creativity around the region by hosting parties that would offer novices simple instructions on how to paint a complete canvas.

Thus was born The Progressive Palette, and on the eve of its first birthday, the business has exceeded even the expectations of the two sisters — Kira Guidon and Sarah Holland — who founded it.

Over the last year, The Progressive Palette has hosted more than 200 public and private gatherings, hired a staff that includes another full-time employee besides the founding sisters as well as several part-time employees, and most recently moved into its very first permanent space: a storefront at 71 Spring St.

"We've been beaming," Guidon said recently as she surveyed the space at 71 Spring St. the business began leasing on Feb. 1.

On this day, the first piece of mail arrived, a second bouquet of flowers appeared and boxes and boxes of supplies were delivered, signaling the growth the sisters hope to see as they enter their second year as entrepreneurs.

"We created a community of people who love to be creative," Guidon said. "The energy keeps growing."

As is the business. Over the last year, the two have held parties all over North County as well as down into Pittsfield and Lenox. The events traditionally have been held at restaurants like The '6 House Pub and the Freight Yard Pub, but the new storefront will allow them to be able to also host events themselves, including birthday parties and other special events like parties for teenagers.

"We're still planning and doing phases," Holland said. "We want to keep feeding it."

While both women have degrees in arts and arts management, it was Guidon who pushed her sister into starting the business one year ago.

"I forgot my fears and went along with it," Holland said. "It's been awesome."

The sisters said they have worked together well over the past year, discovering they have "complementary skill sets" that allow their partnership to flourish.

"We've learned so much about each other," Guidon said.

And so much about the community, too. They have learned how to market and package their parties, heavily depending on Facebook to spread their message. They have learned how to give back, hosting fundraising painting parties for a variety of local causes and nonprofits that have raised $15,000 over the year. And they have learned to appeal to different demographics — including men, who are in the minority at their parties — through "date night" events and "parent/child" parties.

The sisters likened it all to cooking up something special.

"We have a recipe for how we create paintings. It's like a secret sauce," Guidon said. 

"Everyone can make chicken piccata if they follow the recipe," Holland added.

Their recipe has cooked up so much success in the Berkshires that in addition to the Williamstown storefront, they are bringing The Progressive Palette in its second year to the Saratoga Springs, N.Y., area as well as the South Shore region of eastern Massachusetts.

"It's kind of a natural progression," said Guidon, who said they have family in the Plymouth area and one of their employees is going to graduate school in Saratoga Springs. "It was definitely the time to do it."

The two artists will officially mark the one-year anniversary of The Progressive Palette with an open house event in the new space on March 7. But even before the official anniversary, they said they know they have found their calling.

"I cannot imagine doing anything else," Guidon said.

Find information about upcoming parties on progressivepalette.com or on Facebook.

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